Ask John Negus
John has been answering reader queries for 50 years
John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week Removing old and damaged leaves
Nandina is attractive and easy to grow Potting up hellebore seedlings
Name this shrub
Hellebores are a beautiful and easy-going early spring flower
ow can keep hellebores looking good?
Q
I have lots of beautiful Helleborus niger in my garden. How can I keep them healthy and help them flower? Angie Bayliss, Penrith, Cumbria
A
Hellebores will thrive in organically rich, limey soil. If you can’t get mushroom compost, which contains chalk, I suggest you mulch plants with 3in (7cm) of composted manure. You can either buy a proprietary brand from a garden centre, or see if a local farm is selling sacks of selling well-rotted manure. Provided you augment your compost with a sprinkling of 30oz (84g) per square metre of garden lime, and a spring, mid and late-summer application of Vitax Q4, your plants will thrive. Additionally, remove half the older leaves in autumn, and the remainder in spring, just before new foliage and flowers appear. This makes room for
new growth and reduces the risk of disease such as leaf spot moving from old to new growth. Leaf spot is a fungal problem that spreads when raindrops splash up onto the leaves from the soil, carrying spores. Symptoms are brown patches of dead material on the leaves that can fall through, leaving the leaves in holes. Stems can also be infected, causing plants to collapse and tiny black fungal structures may be seen. Halt the spread by removing and disposing of all dead and infected material (do not compost) or by using fungicide. Regular mulching also keeps spores buried so they are less likely to be splashed up onto plants. Hellebores are prolific self-seeders, so if one you particularly like is surrounded by its seedlings, pot them up and grow them on before planting elsewhere in the garden.
Are nasturtium seeds edible?
Q All photographs TI Media unless otherwise credited
I have heard that nasturtium seeds are edible. Do you need to prepare them first? Lucy Allbright, via email
A
Spicy nasturtium seeds are pickled and served chopped with pasta, sauces, salads and dressings. Gather half-ripe seeds and rinse them. Dissolve a ¼ cup of salt in a quart of water and add ⅔ of a cup of seeds. Keep seeds submerged for two days by covering the container with a zipped plastic bag, pushing it down inside the container.
Strain the seeds and rinse to Nasturtium seeds remove salt, make a good side dish then add ⅔ of cup of white vin and one teaspoonful of sugar to a small saucepan and bring to boil for one minute, stirring. Put seeds into ½ pint (450g) jars and cover with hot vinegar. Add a bay leaf to each and let them cool to room temperature before sealing with lids. Pickled seeds can be stored at room temperature or in a fridge.
Q
A shrub that’s about 4ft (1.2m) tall with reddish spear-shaped leaves is growing in our new garden. Can you identify it please? Andrew Gordon, Basingstoke, Hants
A
Your plant sounds like Nandina domestica, or sacred Japanese bamboo. When mature, its white summer flowers are usually followed by large cones of small red berries. A member of the berberis family from India, China and Japan, it was introduced into cultivation in 1804. It has great appeal, and thrives in full sun and is easily propagated from semi-ripe cuttings in summer or from seed.
Many epiphytic orchids produce miniatures called keikis
What’s a keiki?
Q
What is a keiki? I think they are part of orchid propagation. Craig Stewart, via email
A
Many epiphytic orchids, especially phalaenopsis, produce keikis, which are plantlets that appear from an orchid’s main stem, or from its flowering spike – not from its roots – and are identical to the parent. If one appears, and you want to detach it, wait until the roots are 2-3in (5-7cm) long, then remove it with a sharp, sterilised knife. Set the plantlet in orchid compost, and care for it as you would the parent plant. 1 FEBRUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING
33
